| Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may show yourselves blameless and beyond reproach, children of God without spot in the midst of an evil and depraved generation, among which you shine like lights in the world as you hold fast tenaciously to the word of life. | Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. |
| Let my teaching fall down like rain, and my words descend like the dew. Like rain upon the sprouts, and like showers upon the grass. | Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. |
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| Oh, that they would have fear of me in their hearts and they would observe all of my commandments always. Then things would go well with them and their children forever. | Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! |
| For the Lord loves the just, and he will not forsake his faithful ones. Those who follow evil paths will be destroyed, and the children of the wicked will be cut off. | For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish. |
| Even though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, even though the olive crop will fail and the orchards will yield no food, even though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, I will continue to rejoice in the Lord, and exult in the God of my salvation. | Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. |
| Come now and let us discuss this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow. Though they are as red as crimson, they shall become as white as wool. | “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” |
| The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ | And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ |
| You shall keep these things that I command you today in your heart. Teach them to your children. You shall talk of them when you are sitting in your home, and when you are walking along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. | These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. |
| Like a city that has been breached and made defenseless is the man devoid of self-control. | Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. |
| I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. | I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. |
| You shall not oppress the widow or the orphan. If you mistreat them and they cry out to me for help, I will surely hear their cry, and my fury will burn and I will put you to death by the sword. Your wives will be widows and your children will be orphans. | Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. |
| You shall obey his statutes and the commandments that I give you today, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may live long in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you for all time. | Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time. |
| For to you a thousand years are like a yesterday that has passed or one of the watches of the night. | A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. |
| I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah | I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. |
| Train a child in the way he should go, and he will not deviate from it, even in old age. | Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. |
| How great you are, Lord God! There is no one like you, and there is no God except you alone, as everything that we have heard confirms. | How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. |
| But he is to ask with faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. | But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. |
| The Lord God is my strength; he makes my feet as swift as those of a deer and enables me to tread on the heights. | The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. |
| Pleasing words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and affording health to the body. | Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. |
| Remain sober and alert, for your enemy the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. | Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. |
| When you fix your gaze upon it, it is gone before you realize it. For it suddenly sprouts wings and flies up to the sky like an eagle. | Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. |
| But do not ignore this one fact, beloved: with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. | But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. |
| You shall not hate your brother in your heart, nor shall you rebuke your brother in any way, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not seek vengeance nor bear a grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. | Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. |
| Commit your way to the Lord; place your trust in him, and he will act. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and the justice of your cause, like the noonday. | Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. |
| But for you who fear my name the sun of justice will arise with its healing rays. You will emerge leaping like calves released from the stall. | But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. |
